I've been getting LTWinmodems made by Paradise Multimedia Products
(www.paradisemmp.com). I get them from Tech Data at about $30 each.
However, I've heard that there are cheaper ones out there, so you might
want to look around. One nice thing about the LTWinmodems is that it
doesn't seem to matter what the brandname is, or even if there is no
brandname. Lucent always has the latest generic drivers on their
website, and these drivers have worked great for every LT that I've come
across. From everything I've been able to gather, an LT is an LT is an
LT, and they all use the same driver no matter who the manufacturer is.
Now this may not be entirely correct, but I think it is for the most
part. This is a great thing considering that many other chipset makers
simply pass the buck to the modem manufacturers. PC-Tel and Cirrus
Logic are two prime examples... if you don't know who made the modem,
you're pretty much out of luck getting driver updates because the
chipset manufacturers won't put out a generic driver. The LTWinmodems
work beautifully for us. They're inexpensive, and we can always get the
latest driver. We've been using these to replace customer modems that
don't work. I've seen our fastest connect speeds (53,333 with no
retrains/renegs) from LTWinmodems. Incidentally, there have been some
people complain on the list that they have trouble with LTs on poor
phone lines. However, I have a terrible phone line at home that will
only do 28.8 max with any modem (and it's not even behind a SLC), and
have never had a problem with my LT, so YMMV.
I'll second Peter's recommendation of the Zoom. However, make sure that
the one you get is the 2949L. I think the L indicates that it has a
Lucent Venus chipset--the same chipset that's in the PM3. These work
very well, but older 2949 models had Rockwell chipsets, and didn't work
quite so well, so be sure to get the Lucent chip'd model. There may
also be other models that have the Lucent chipset, and they'll probably
work well too.
Also, we've had decent luck with non-winmodem USR sportsters. They tend
to be a little over-aggressive on connect, and sometimes need a speed
limiting init string, but they're pretty solid once you've got them
running at a maintainable speed. Also, there is an Archtek Smartlink
modem that is a USR clone (same TI chipset). These seem to work as well
as the USR's except they don't cost nearly as much. I think these are
about the least expensive non-softmodem that I've seen. I think they
run about $50 or so. From what I've seen, they do tend to suffer from
the same overly aggressive behavior as the USR's. They tend to connect
a couple of notches higher than they should. Speed limiting init
strings are the key here.
One thing to remember is that simply because it has a DSP and a
controller does not mean that it's a good modem. Cirrus Logic chipset
modems are the prime example of this. AVOID THESE LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!
Anyway, hope this helps!
Craig
Xpressweb Internet Services
bairdc@xpressweb.com
http://www.xpressweb.com
> Did you try at+a8e=,,,0 in the extra settings?
>
> This will disable V.8bis on the client and allow a V.90 connection
> instead of the modem picking Flex for HSP/PCTel modems.
>
> If you still have problems:
>
> for a direct replacement, I would recommend a LTWinmodem.
>
> Hopefully Craig will chime in with a brand name, but I know
> that the Jaton WINMOD line is based on LTWinmodem.
>
> For an external modem, I would recommend Zoom.
>
> - Peter
>
> mick wrote:
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